We are honoured to premiere the new single ‘Psycho City’ from Blue Mountains resident Lewis Goldmark, the first single from his forthcoming debut album due early in 2022 via Broken Stone Records/Remote Control Records.
The first thing to observe is that Lewis Goldmark is in fact Liam Judson from Belles Will Ring (and Magnetic Heads) and producer of many eminent bands, some of whom have graced our pages in the past including Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Imperial Broads, Cloud Control and The Lovetones.
The second observation is that ‘Psycho City’ is one of the freshest, breeziest tracks you will hear this year: cantering along with a sprightly lilt and a sixties crushed velvet attire. As light as air and with an almost carnival joviality, the song is actually about darker things (as its title suggests).
Judson moved to the peaceful and ethereal Blue Mountains from the ever growing crush and the chaos of Sydney and dwelt on the anxieties of life in the city:
I can’t explain it, but every time I got on a train there were strange folk doing really destructive things, and being incredibly aggressive. I don’t scare easily. I was scared often. It was like ‘summer of the psychos’ and I wrote the song amidst all that.
The ebullient organ sounds, the celestial harmonies, the slamming rhythms and Mike Sammes Singers buoyancy all combine to create something with an effervescent sunshine glow, but deep within its heart there lurks a dark soul.
There is an immediate counterpoint between the themes and the lyrics of the track and the delivery: shining, glowing melodies and harmonies that canter like a high stepping pony while describing the darker side of human nature.
‘Psycho City’ is the sound of the Beach Boys and the Mamma and the Papas with lyrics by The Jesus and Mary Chain collaborating with Nick Cave and the scribbled notes of a therapy session. A delightful dichotomy that results in something very unique and fresh. It may well be inferred that Sydney is psycho city but at the very least it can inspire this sort of refreshing creativity:
‘Psycho City’ is out through all the usual sites tomorrow (Thursday, 14 October 2021).
Feature Photograph: Daniel Judson
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